Two held for opening fire at news channel crew in Delhi

Two men were arrested for allegedly opening fire at the crew of a news channel when they were going on an assignment in south Delhi, police said Thursday.

The accused were identified, Tayyab (23), a resident of Shahdara in East Delhi and Shahid (20), a resident of Kabir Nagar, they said.

With the arrest of the duo, police claimed to have solved 20 cases including that of an attempt to murder, snatching, robbery and Arms Act registered at local police stations.

Police got a tip off about the accused after they learnt that Tayyab was nabbed on June 17 in connection with a year-old kidnapping-cum-robbery case registered at Vivek Vihar Police Station, officials added.

The incident took place on the intervening night of June 9-10, when the TV journalist, Siddharth Purohit, was going on Barapulla flyover towards INA market in the office cab with his crew and driver for an assignment, said Rajeev Ranjan, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

When they reached near Suchna Bhawan, two bike-borne men signalled the driver to stop after showing him a pistol. He, instead, accelerated the vehicle. In the meantime, the accused fired three shots at their cab, but the crew managed to escape from the spot with their vehicle, the officer said.

The accused were identified with the help of the CCTV footage, the officer added.

Raids were conducted in western Uttar Pradesh and trans-Yamuna area of East Delhi to nab the accused, he said.

Investigations revealed that Tayyab was arrested in a year old kidnapping-cum-robbery case a few days ago. He was declared Proclaimed Offender by the court. He was subsequently arrested and remanded in police custody, he added.

During interrogation, he disclosed the name of his co-accused -- Shahid and other active members of his gang.

They had also robbed a cab driver at the gunpoint after firing at him while he was returning from IGI airport after dropping a passenger, police said.